The prevalence of overweight increased from 1989 to 2000 in children aged two to four years from low-income families, according to an article in the December issue of The Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.
According to background information in the article, children who are overweight are at risk for diabetes, gall stones, sleep apnea, and high blood pressure. As adults, they are also at an increased risk for coronary heart disease and atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries), compared with those not overweight as adolescents.
Bettylou Sherry, Ph.D., R.D., from the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC, Atlanta, and colleagues examined the change in the prevalence of overweight and underweight in children ages two to four years from low income families participating in federally funded programs. The researchers used state-specific data for participants in the PedNSS program in 1989, 1994, and 2000. They defined overweight as a body mass index (BMI) for age in the 95th percentile or higher, and underweight as BMI for age in less than the fifth percentile, following CDC growth charts.